Muonic-atom scattering from hydrogenic liquids in an incoherent approach

The differential cross sections for low-energy muonic hydrogen atom scattering in liquid hydrogenic targets have been calculated in the incoherent approximation using the Van Hove response function. A simple model of liquids and the available experimental parameters have been employed for a description of the diffusive and vibrational modes in these targets. At collision energies below about 10 meV, the obtained cross sections are very different from the analogous cross sections for scattering in hydrogenic gases. Above 100 meV, the corresponding cross-sections for scattering in liquid and gaseous hydrogens are practically identical. In the case of spin-flip reactions, an appreciable difference between these cross sections is apparent only below a few meV, which is caused by a relatively high (compared to the Debye energy) energy transfers to the target